Best Moment of Oscars

https://mobile.twitter.com/indiewire/status/1226704317136220160

Filmmaker Taika Watiti (short interview clip – via link), instead of talking about his work, took the opportunity to slam Apple on their awful keyboards in their recent Mac Books.  Can you believe it?  This event was supposed to be about the films, the actors, the great production staff — and it’s Apple’s keyboards that he really to speak of.   Going back to early 2018, I have been really hard on Apple and I have let you know it.  Some of you simply had to get new Macs over the past few years and I was very straight with you, even when Apple wasn’t.   I let you know about the 4 year warranty from date of purchase on the keyboard replacements.  I have also let you know that a Lenovo Thinkpad or Dell Latitude would be a much better investment, if you could see yourself switching from Mac to Windows.   There will likely be some good news around the corner, however.   Between March and June — I expect Apple to release new 13 inch Mac Air and Pro models with the “classic keyboard”.   That would be a keyboard similar to the 2015 models, the last good Mac laptop keyboard.  When those products launch, I will be telling you it’s time to buy. 

The Cadillac of VPN’s

This is a message for the more privacy focused among us.  You may travel a lot.  You may use WiFi at coffee shops and hotels. You may just not like the idea of your internet service provider knows everywhere you go online.  If you are one of those people, you need a VPN.  A VPN is a little app that runs on your computer, smartphone or tablet that creates an encrypted tunnel for all your traffic to flow through. It’s simple to use, you turn it on and  you turn it off.  Your internet provider will never see any of the sites that you visit. A good VPN will cost $8 to $12 per month, give or take.  The best of them will never keep any logs of your activity.  I used to recommend 2 particular VPN services.  I have refined my picks, due to experience.  The Cadillac of VPN’s — the best you can get right now, Is a company called  Express VPN.  They are so easy to use. and they offer 24 hour technical support (via chat on their website).  I know that older technology users like good customer service.  Current pricing is $12.95 month to month and $100 if you paid for 12 months.   My second choice, let’s call them the Volvo of VPN’s, is Private Internet Access — PIA.  PIA’s commitment to privacy has held up in court.  However, like Volvo, they were recently sold to a new company but have promised to keep their past commitments and maintain their legacy. PIA is cheaper than Express VPN.   It remains to be seen, if there will be long term changes under the new management.   If I could tell you to go with only one VPN — go with Express VPN.

Financial Safety Tip of the Week

This is a really simple tip, but very relevant to the scam calls that are going around today.  You may get a message saying they are from your credit card.  Do not call back or answer the call.  Call the customer service number on the back of your card or on your statement.  If you are the type that likes to throw everything out, always keep the last statement of all of your bills in a folder.  That way you have a good number to call.  Not everyone can see the numbers on the back of a credit card without a magnifier.